27 Oahu Texaco
stations sold
A Texas firm will buy them
By Russ Lynch
to pave the way for
a huge oil deal
Star-BulletinA Dallas company said today it has agreed to buy 27 Texaco gasoline stations on Oahu, along with the Texaco terminal at Barbers Point, for an undisclosed amount.
When the deal closes in October, they will no longer be Texaco stations and the people currently operating the stations are being told they will lose their leases. However, buyer U.S. Restaurant Properties Inc. said some operators may get to stay under a new brand franchise.
USRP is a real estate investment trust that owns 731 properties in 48 states on which stand Burger King, Arby's, Chili's and other franchised restaurants. Some of the properties also house gas stations.
USRP said a company called B.C. Oil Ventures will operate the Oahu service stations. No information was immediately available about B.C. Oil.
The operators of the stations were told today that the sale has been arranged and that they will have to leave, said Dave McKinney, a spokesman for Equilon Enterprises LLC.
Equilon is the Shell-Texaco joint venture formed early this year to market both brands in the Western and Midwestern states and Hawaii.
McKinney said it is now up to the buyer to decide who runs them.
The sale of the Texaco business on Oahu results from court actions by Hawaii's Attorney General office and those of other Western states following last year's announcement that Shell Oil Co. and Texaco Inc. would form a $17 billion marketing joint venture.
In December, Hawaii Attorney General Margery Bronster announced that the companies had agreed to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and the State of Hawaii to lessen any anti-competitive effect of the merger.
The settlement called for either Shell or Texaco to sell Oahu operations. The companies agreed that Texaco would be the one to go. The purchase by USRP is subject to approval by the FTC and the State of Hawaii.
Hazel Araki, who has run Jimmy's & Son's Texaco for 36 years in Ewa Beach, said she had heard rumors about a real estate company and B.C. Oil but hadn't heard anything official as of late this morning.
"All this time we've been with Texaco," she said. "People love the gas, you know."
Now she doesn't know what will happen and she just hopes the new operator keeps it a full automotive service business and doesn't convert it into just a gas-and-go, mini-mart station.
Araki noted that government approvals are needed and she's not ready to give up yet. "I'm not going to retire. I'm going to fight it out," said Araki, who is in her 70s. "My husband stays home and watches TV. I can't do that."
